Denghuangtai

Pei Qingyan, nestled in his arms, could clearly feel his presence. She gently patted Yun Zheng's arm with her hand that hadn't been used for acupuncture, reassuring him, "He's exaggerating; it's not that serious."

After saying that, she turned her head and said to the old doctor with displeasure, "Go ahead and do the acupuncture, don't scare him."

The old doctor sneered, "You know yourself whether I'm scary or not."

Pei Qingyan shifted his gaze to the side, pursed his lips, and said, "It shouldn't be so blunt. At least smooth things over a bit."

The old doctor snorted irritably, "I am only responsible for treating illnesses and saving lives; polishing writing is the business of scholars."

"But you also have to consider the patients' feelings," Pei Qingyan argued.

"You still know you're a patient!"

The old doctor couldn't help but speak sarcastically. Since Pei Qingyan returned to the capital, he had been either saving people or on his way to save people. He had heard more news of people vomiting blood and falling into comas than he had in the previous five years combined. Yet this patient showed no awareness whatsoever, constantly jumping around and agitated, as if he were afraid of recovering too soon and was in a hurry to report to the King of Hell.

Thinking of this, the old doctor became furious, gripped the silver needle, and plunged it in hard.

Pei Qingyan groaned, too exhausted to argue with the old doctor. Just as she was about to raise her hand to rub her arm, which was numb from being pricked, she heard the old doctor shout.

"Don't move!"

Pei Qingyan's hand trembled slightly, and he froze in mid-air, too afraid to move.

Give me your hand!

She obediently handed over her hand, and the old doctor stood up and inserted several needles into her other arm.

Pei Qingyan's arms went numb; she was completely sealed and had no means of resistance. Then she watched helplessly as the old doctor held a silver needle and pierced her brow, the needle tip gleaming coldly.

General Pei, who had rolled through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, was actually filled with fear under the cold glint of this needle.

Her voice trembled slightly, "Isn't it unnecessary to stay here?"

The old doctor stopped what he was doing, and was about to teach this guy who was reluctant to see a doctor a lesson when he saw Yun Zheng give him a subtle wink. He sighed deeply.

Got it!

Someone felt sorry for him!

The old doctor shrugged and adopted a slightly gentler tone, "You consider yourself to be in good health, so may I ask when this problem of vomiting blood started?"

Pei Qingyan stole a glance at Yun Zheng and stammered, "Just...just recently."

"Is that so?" The old doctor moved the needle forward a little, as if to stick it into her brow.

Pei Qingyan dared not hide it any longer and confessed the truth: "Six years ago!" Back then, she was shocked by Yun Zheng and Yong Chang's marriage and her heart palpitated, so she spat out a mouthful of blood.

After that, although she was injured sometimes, she rarely coughed up blood.

There have been no cases of patients vomiting blood as frequently as they have recently.

"Young master, did you hear that?" The old doctor turned to look at Yun Zheng. "It's not that I want to do anything, it's just that this patient is too troublesome. If I'm not strict with her, she won't even tell the truth, let alone cooperate with my treatment."

Before anyone could react, the old doctor flicked his wrist and cleanly inserted a needle into Pei Qingyan's brow.

Pei Qingyan vaguely saw the needle tip swaying. She swallowed hard, trying to defend herself: "I was clearly very cooperative..." Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, and even she herself felt that it was not credible.

Seeing that she was aware of her guilt, the old doctor's anger subsided somewhat. He stroked his beard and softened his tone, "Now that I see you and your husband like this, I suppose you've cleared up all your misunderstandings. Just stay here in the temple and I'll treat your new and old injuries all at once."

Pei Qingyan smiled bitterly: "With family revenge unavenged and injustices rectified, how can I have peace of mind?"

"You're only in your early twenties. Once you recover from your injuries, you'll have decades to live. Why would you worry about not having a chance to clear your name and seek revenge?" the old doctor rebuked angrily.

Upon hearing this, Pei Qingyan's brows furrowed with sadness, and she sighed softly, "You already knew how my health was, didn't you?"

"What did I say?" the old doctor replied quickly, his neck stiff, intending to deny it, but his shifty eyes already betrayed his guilty conscience.

"At most seven years."

Pei Qingyan spoke calmly, as if the words were not directed at him.

The old doctor looked at Yun Zheng with surprise, his eyes asking if it was Yun Zheng who had leaked the news. Yun Zheng shook his head slightly; how could he possibly tell Pei Qingyan such terrible news?

Pei Qingyan fiddled with the soft cushions spread on the tatami mat, and said in a nonchalant tone, "You don't need to exchange glances anymore. Don't worry, I won't give up on myself just because I'm nearing the end of my life."

Yun Zheng and the old doctor thought to themselves, "It would be fine if you gave up on yourself, but I'm afraid you know you don't have long to live, so you might as well risk your life to fight those people."

"At most, while I still have the strength, I'll go all the way and kill them all," Pei Qingyan added quietly.

"Can't!"

"I was just talking nonsense!"

Two voices rang out at the same time, and everyone was taken aback.

After a long while, Yun Zheng raised his eyes and looked at the old doctor with a blank expression, as if to say, "You better explain yourself."

The old doctor shrank back and silently took a step back. "When I saw you looking like you wanted to eat someone alive, I couldn't bear to see General Pei humiliated, so I exaggerated her condition a bit."

Yun Zheng's eyes turned cold, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "You swore on your life back then that you were absolutely telling the truth." Heaven knows how much he was shocked when he heard those words. His blood froze, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. For days, those words swirled in his mind like a curse, and every time he saw Pei Qingyan vomit blood, he felt like killing someone.

The old doctor pointed at Pei Qingyan and said, "General Pei also said that doctors need to consider the patients' feelings and embellish their stories a little, which is not considered lying."

Upon hearing this, Pei Qingyan chuckled, "I knew my body couldn't possibly be that weak!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the old doctor poured cold water on him mercilessly, saying, "You don't need to be so optimistic. Judging from the frequency of your recent vomiting of blood and the extent of your troubles, you're not far from what I'm about to say."

"Stop beating around the bush and tell the truth." Yun Zheng lost his patience, and his voice grew cold.

"Yes." Knowing he was in the wrong, the old doctor composed himself and said seriously, "General Pei's new injury is dangerous, but it hasn't hit any vital organs. Taking the medicine on time and resting in bed will suffice. However, the old ailment is still somewhat troublesome, partly because it has accumulated over many years and is difficult to reverse. The other part is because of General Pei himself..."

"Because of me?" Pei Qingyan was puzzled. She didn't have a grudge against him and was deliberately torturing him, turning his new injury into an old one.

"It's because of you," the old doctor replied calmly, lowering his gaze. "You've experienced tremendous changes, damaging your body and mind. You should be taking good care of yourself, but judging from your pulse, you haven't received any treatment in recent years."

He paused, worried that Yun Zheng and Pei Qingyan might not take it seriously, so he made his point clearer: "To put it simply, all these years, you haven't taken care of yourself. You haven't healed your injuries or treated your illnesses, and you've been overly worried and overworked day and night. You've worn your body down to a state of near exhaustion."